Report: Waste in town of Bloomer poses no danger
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By The Chippewa Herald
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 12:01 PM CDT
An engineering company’s report has found no cause for concern over buried rendering plant waste in the town of Bloomer.
However, township residents aren’t satisfied with that finding and have asked the matter to be placed on the agenda for the next Chippewa County Board meeting.
“Based on the findings of this assessment, the rendering waste materials present no threat to public health from direct contact as long as the materials remain covered or access to the disposal area is otherwise prevented.
The potential threat to the environment also appears limited based on the reported nutrient composition of the samples collected from the test pits,” the report by Senior Environmental Specialist Kevin E. Accola of the firm Short Elliott Hendrickson states.
The waste originated at a site in Chippewa Falls, where the old rendering plant once stood. When a new property owner started construction of a drywall facility there, the waste was discovered. Waste considered potentially more dangerous was taken to a landfill.
Other waste mixed with soil, though it had a foul odor, was not considered hazardous and was buried at the town of Bloomer site, at a county-owed gravel pit, where car-killed deer were once buried.
Local residents objected, fearing the rendering company waste could be a hazard to groundwater.
Last year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and county officials met with concerned residents, and the DNR representatives gave assurances there was no danger to the public. However, the county agreed to have the site further tested to further reassure the residents.
The site was partially excavated and the report acknowledges when dug up the waste still has a foul odor. However, testing showed no concentrations of nitrates or sulfates and only negligible phosphorus levels.
There were levels of magnesium, calcium and potassium, but generally in the same level or slightly higher than would be found in ordinary farmland.
Potentially dangerous bacteria was found, but the report noted that it was only possibly dangerous through direct contact; that bacteria and its spores are not transported by groundwater. Hence, the report concludes that as long as the waste remains buried it does not pose a danger.
A group of neighbors of the site appeared before the County Board Tuesday night to urge the county to have the waste removed.
The matter was not on the agenda, however. The people asked that the matter be placed on the agenda for the August meeting, according to County Clerk Kathy Bernier.
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